Concert tour is close to home
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The Mormon Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra at Temple Square took their performances on the road Oct. 13 and 14, performing in Cedar City and St. George, Utah.
From opening the program performing the National Anthem to closing with its traditional sign-off number of "God Be With You 'Til We Meet Again," the musicians enthralled their audiences in both settings.
Some 5,000 tickets were sold for the performance in Cedar City, at Southern Utah University's Centrum Arena, Friday evening, Oct. 13. The Saturday concert had a sold-out audience lined up for a performance at the outdoor Tuacahn Amphitheater at Ivins, Utah, 10 miles west of St. George, where the colorful 1,500-foot-high red rock walls of Tuacahn Canyon provide a majestic backdrop. However, heavy rainfall earlier in the day made it impossible for the staging crew to set up the organ and instruments at the amphitheater. The weather drove the choir, orchestra and fans to an alternate venue, the Burns Arena at Dixie College in St. George.
While members of audiences in southern Utah apparently appreciated the choir's and orchestra's efforts to bring their famed talents closer to home, there was at least one couple from outside the area who went to great lengths to attend the concert in Cedar City. Marene Foulger, the choir's historian, said that a couple originally from Israel who have been in the United States about 15 years, had flown to Salt Lake City, perhaps on a business trip. They had planned to see the choir at its Thursday evening rehearsal and Sunday morning broadcast. When they learned the choir would be on the road during the weekend, they took a plane to St. George, rented a car and drove an hour to Cedar City for the Friday evening concert, although all tickets had been sold. As they were standing outside Burns Arena trying to get tickets, they happened to meet with choir musical director Craig Jessop's daughter, Jennifer, who came up with an extra pair of tickets for them.
Usually, accolades at choir concerts come from the audience to the performers. At the Saturday evening performance, praise went from the director's podium to Arthur Olsen, who sat in the audience with his wife, Helen.
Brother Jessop praised Brother Olsen as an exemplary teacher. He said that as a young boy in the Millville Elementary School in Utah's Cache Valley he "lived for Brother Olsen's summer chorus program." Speaking of the impact that his teacher had upon him, Brother Jessop recalled singing in a concert at the end of the summer program; it was the first time he had sung in a choir with all the other parts surrounding him. He said that he knew at that moment, as a fourth grade student, that he wanted to be involved in choral music. He said that Brother Olsen had "lighted a fire that has never been extinguished; to the contrary, it burns brighter than ever."
